User:James Jones

From OpenWetWare

The revolutionary iPhone that we all have known for the past 6 years is not at all fun and games. This has been used seriously by different industries. One of which is the corporate world. Big businesses have already took advantage of how the iPhone is very useful in a lot of ways.

With the increase of usage in the corporate world, there is also a need to increase the security of the device. This helps ensure the privacy and confidentiality of all the information of every company that uses it.

Here are the essential tips you can follow to make sure your iPhone is secure and protected.

1. Activate the passcode lock.

This is the most basic security measure any iPhone user should take note of. The passcode lock is located at Settings, General and then Passcode Lock. You can either put a simple 4 digit passcode or a long one with a combination of letters and number. You can then adjust its settings at Settings, General, Auto lock.

This allows the iPhone to be locked after a certain time of inactivity has transpired. It would not allow you to go back to the home screen again unless you type in the set password. This will be very helpful in case you leave your phone for a few minutes. It will help you avoid people who try to break in without your permission.

2. Wi-Fi should be turned off when not in use.

Though Wi-Fi will only consume a portion of your battery life, it is also very important to turn it off when not in use. That is because there are rare but certain cases where you could unknowingly connect to an unsecured network. That will expose your iPhone to a certain degree of danger.

3. SSL should be activated for Mail

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is a security standard for transmission of data between two endpoints. When you are using this standard, your email will not be transmitted in just plain text that will be read by anyone who might come across the server. That way they will have a hard time encrypting it in the event that they want to hack the email and use it against you. Different settings will apply for activating SSL on different email accounts. But, generally they can be found on the Advanced settings for each Mail account you have set up on the "Mail, Contacts, Calendars" setting.

4. Cellular Data, especially internet tethering must be turned off when not in use

Unlike Wi-Fi, cellular data uses the cellular network to give you access to the internet. When you are already on Wi-Fi, make sure to turn off your cellular data. Not only will this save you from a lot of battery drainage, it could also help minimize the risk of someone being able to access your data using the cellular data network. There are some phone tracking programs that actually take advantage of such situations. So, you have to be careful.

Internet tethering on the other hand is the ability to make your iPhone a personal hotspot or a wireless router using the cellular data connection. Keeping it turned on especially when you have a weak password turned on for personal hotspot might allow hackers to easily break in.

5. Restore the iPhone when it is not in your possession.

There are actually 2 ways this is necessary to do. First is when you decide to sell your iPhone or have someone else use it. It is better to just restore the phone via iTunes or even just erasing all content via the settings on your phone. This helps ensure that there is no sensitive data left on the device. Everything will be deleted though. So, make sure you have a backup of all your data either on iCloud or your computer.

The other instance to which this could happen is when you suddenly lost your phone. Given that you have setup your iCloud, Apple has the "Find my iPhone" feature that allows you to be able to report a lost iPhone. This alerts the iPhone based on your settings. Plus, when necessary you can even remote wipe the iPhone. That means all the data in it will be deleted wherever it is. That is a pretty neat feature.

6. Always update the firmware

Every now and then, Apple releases an update to iOS. Every iOS update adds features and functionality to the iPhone. More importantly, these updates fix some bugs and patches up security issues that may affect the phone. So, be sure you are updated to take advantage of that.

All of the above tips are really helpful to keep that iPhone in secure mode. If you are the type of person who carries sensitive, personal and confidential information with you on your iPhone, you should take note of all of those. You are carrying this device anywhere. You are exposing it to some possible dangers. In spite of all those security issues though, Apple still has been great with keeping security on the iPhone very tight. That has helped a lot of regular users. But, for the more advanced ones that like to tinker the iPhone, there still is a room for improvement. For now, you just have to make sure to follow those essential security tips to keep your iPhone protected all the time.